Kiev accuses Russia of being involved in the dissemination of confidential documents, Moscow denounces a “tendency to always blame Russia”.
Asked about Moscow’s possible involvement in leaking confidential documents about Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced a “tendency to always blame Russia.”
“The tendency to always blame Russia for everything and attribute everything to Russia has become a widespread disease,” he said at a press conference broadcast by CNN.
Mr Peskov also acknowledged that the documents revealed were “very interesting” and that he could not completely rule out the hypothesis that the United States was spying on its allies. “The fact that the United States is monitoring various heads of state, particularly in Europe, has surfaced time and time again, according to the spokesman, creating egregious situations. Therefore [cette hypothèse] can not be excluded. »
On Friday, a Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaïlo Podoliak accused Moscow of being behind the leak of confidential documents on Telegram. These documents have “nothing to do with Ukraine’s real plans” and are full of “fictitious information”. Washington has confirmed the authenticity of the released documents.
Andri Yusov from the General Directorate of the Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine accused Russia of manipulating the documents. “In recent decades, the most successful Russian intelligence operations have been conducted with Photoshop,” he said in a television interview. “After a preliminary analysis, we see that the damage numbers are wrong on both sides. Some information was clearly gathered from open sources. In addition, the needs of the Ukrainian army have been the subject of “discussions at all levels” and it is “no secret that Ukraine is asking for planes, tanks, ammunition and other things,” he said.